roasted olives recipe.

I'm not a huge olive fan, though I do love olive oil and tapenade. I guess really I'm a very picky olive eater -- I only like the ripe ones (green = ick!), and I like to nosh on tiny Arbequino, Nicoise and oil-cured black olives with a glass of wine before dinner.

When Dad & Ellen were here for a Christmas visit a couple of weeks ago, we hit Lavomatic, a delightful French-style wine bar/cafe, for an afternoon pick-me-up. We ordered a dish of roasted olives to snack on -- I'd never had roasted ones (and these were served cold, which didn't seem ideal), but they were tasty and I resolved to try making them. I sort of made this recipe up:

assorted olives of your liking
a sprig of rosemary (fresh thyme would work, too, maybe for a spring or summer variation)
1 clove of garlic, smashed
a pinch of red-pepper flakes
a glug of olive oil
a splash of red wine
a piece of orange peel would be nice, too

I warmed the olive oil in my small Lodge cast-iron skillet (any oven-proof skillet would do), then added the garlic, rosemary sprig and pepper flakes and warmed them until they were fragrant. I added the olives and stirred them around for a few minutes, then added the red wine. Then I shoved the pan into a preheated 400-degree oven for about 12 minutes, until everything bubbled and smelled delicious.

These improve greatly over time -- I made a batch for New Year's eve that were much better when I finished them off on Friday evening, more than a week later. Yesterday's batch will sit in the fridge until next weekend, when I'll scoop a few into a small dish and let them come to room temp for a little snacketizer.